BS3 Community - the governance of our charity

Pete is married with two young children and has lived in Southville for over 10 years. His family have enjoyed numerous classes and activities hosted and run by BS3 Community. Pete is keen to ensure these opportunities continue to be available to people in the future along with the other valuable work the charity does in the community. Pete works in financial services and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries. He wants to use his experience to help further develop the charity’s risk management and financial planning to allow it to continue to grow and support the local community.

Isabel has been working for charities and social enterprises for the last 15 years, mainly in project management, fundraising and marketing. Locally, she set up a community interest company which supported parents with flexible childcare and coworking, and has set up a pocket park on her street. She is also a Fellow of the School of Social Entrepreneurs and has a Masters in Social Development and Sustainable Livelihoods. Isabel’s work has taken her from managing an educational entertainment project in Rwanda, to evaluating HelpAge International’s global age discrimination campaign, and researching child marriage eradication programmes in Nepal. Isabel currently works as the Fundraising Manager at Windmill Hill City Farm. Within BS3 Community, she chairs the Catering Sub Committee and spearheaded the redevelopment of the cafe at The Southville Centre. Isabel lives in locally with her young family.

Mark moved to Bristol in 2012, and has lived in BS3 since 2018. He is married with two young children, and first got to know the charity through toddler activities and trips to the cafe during paternity leave. Mark is a Chartered Accountant and leads internal audit and assurance programmes at public sector organisations. He is keen to use his skills to support the charity's work in the community. In his spare time, Mark enjoys running, football and climbing.

Sarah is originally from Essex and moved to Bristol in 2001. She has worked in HR for over 20 years and currently works as an HR Business Partner for a Government Agency. She has volunteered in a number of disaster affected communities around the world and co-founded a disaster relief and recovery charity which has worked with communities in Haiti, the Philippines and Nepal. Now settled in BS3 she wanted to use her HR experience to help a local charity and was really impressed on hearing about the work of BS3 Community so decided to get involved.

Elizabeth has lived in Southville for seven years. Previous to her move here, she was a solicitor, training manager, then primary school teacher in London. This was followed by five years teaching in Barcelona and then volunteer work in Guatemala, before settling in BS3. She has worked in three different schools in Bristol and has now become a SENCo. Elizabeth is keen to be involved in a local charity which makes a clear contribution to the community, and is particularly interested in the Early Years work, and connecting with the older generation.

Ediane has experience working in research, policy, community development and social impact in Latin America and Europe. She is particularly interested in exploring ways in which people at the sharp end of inequality can be meaningfully involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of services that aim to benefit them. Ediane currently works as a Senior Researcher and Systems Specialist for the Dartington Service Design Lab, a research and design charity focussed on using evidence and design in innovative ways to help those working with children and young people have a greater impact. Ediane has an MSc in Public Policy with a specialisation in Social Policy and Social Innovation from The Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences-Po), a BSc in Public Policy & Management from The University of São Paulo, and a Certification in Social Entrepreneurship from the Youth Initiative Program.

Sharon is a registered nurse with over thirty years’ service in the NHS. Having gained experience in several specialist areas of nursing, she remains passionate about providing exceptional and individual care to service users. She considers herself to be a good listener, a team player and a knowledgeable teacher who is always willing to share experience and advice. Sharon is active BAME lead within North Bristol NHS Trust’s and the administrator of their BAME WhatsApp group, which she established to improve communication and support for its members. Sharon was a participant of the first Stepping Up BAME Leadership Programme, which was launched in January 2018. The learning gained after successfully completing this development programme has broadened her awareness of different charities and other organisations within the community. On attending a network event she was very impressed with BS3 Community Development presentation and felt energized to become more involved as a trustee.

Helen is from Bristol and has lived in BS3 for nearly 15 years, she is married with two young children and is currently a stay at home parent. Prior to this she was a primary school teacher for 11 years, working in Bristol schools. She has a PGCE with a specialism in Early Years and is a qualified Reading Recovery teacher. Helen’s wedding took place in the Milford Hall in the Southville Centre over 10 years ago and she now attends groups and classes there most weeks, so has a long and continued affiliation with BS3 Community. She hopes to use her experience, both as a local parent and teacher, to help support the charity in the valuable work it does in the community.

Ellen has lived in Southville for the last ten years having moved to Bristol a few years prior. She lives with her husband and two young boys. She was first introduced to BS3 Community Development when her youngest son started nursery and from there took an interest in the work the charity was doing within the community. Ellen has worked for many years in procurement for large property and engineering companies and hopes to use her skills to help support various projects within the charity. In her spare time she enjoys getting crafty and getting out on the water either for a swim or on her paddle board.

Matt has lived in BS3 for over 20 years, raising a family from newborn to fully grown with his wife Diana. On account of his calling as an IT consultant spanning the smallest startups to the largest government departments, he has only worked in BS3 for a tiny fraction of that time. Covid brought redress. As he is now based predominantly at home, Matt has resolved to give something back to the community where his kids grew up. Answering a call on Facebook, he is now a trustee of BS3 Community and relishing the challenge. When he can prise himself away from South Bristol he is likely to be outdoors, wild camping, canoeing or both. His unfulfilled dream is to make a living teaching people how to cook over open fires.

Victoria moved to Bristol in 2014 before settling down in BS3 in 2016. Victoria lives with her husband, son and two naughty sausage dogs. This is Victoria’s first trustee position, but as a lawyer and passionate community member, Victoria hopes to bring a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to her role as a trustee for BS3 Community Development. She is thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to contribute to the vibrant and diverse community of BS3. In her free time, Victoria enjoys attending and participating in musical theatre and accompanying her little boy to the many parks and playgroups across BS3. Despite her self-proclaimed lack of gardening skills, Victoria finds immense joy in participating in the BS3 Good Garden Awards. Whilst she has only been awarded a certificate twice, she remains hopeful for future success.

Kate has lived in Southville for the last 4 years, with her husband, son and dog, Luna. She has worked at the University of Bristol for nearly 30 years and takes great pride in her work with the “Children of the 90s” study which has followed the health and wellbeing of 14,000 families since they enrolled in the study in the early 1990s. Kate loves data and is keen to share her expertise in areas other than academia. She loves a bit of cross stitch, is currently trying very hard to learn Japanese, has recently joined a choir and enjoys going to the theatre. Kate regularly passes the Southville Centre on her daily dog walks and was always intrigued by the building. After some investigation online she discovered an advert for trustees and couldn’t resist getting involved.